


A Child and A Bounty

by Otakiot



Category: Naruto
Genre: Backstory, Child Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Description, Murder, Pre-Canon, Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 17:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14061438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otakiot/pseuds/Otakiot
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who can never stop running unless he wishes to be killed. Naruto's life does not consist of things usually done by kids his age but rather suffers through much worse. Naruto is the 9-tails Jinchuriki.





	1. Monster

**Author's Note:**

> \I do not own Naruto, it's characters or settings. I am merely borrowing them for the sake of a bit of good ANGST. I only own my OCs and original plotline./  
> *PLEASR READ TAGS BEFORE CONTINUING! Some scenes may be triggering to readers.*

Naruto turns five today. He is not opening presents or playing with friends, he is running for his life. Today, October 10th, is the day in which every year a group of villagers enjoy playing a game with Naruto. This game has no name and consists of a group of villagers hunting down the "fox" and punishing him for his crimes against the village. Naruto is always the fox. Each year that passes the punishments become worse and worse and no matter how hard he hides the village townsfolk and ninjas find him. Last year the villagers found him lying in a hole he dug at the base of a large oak and dragged him back to the village. There they stabbed, carved and burned Naruto until he was at the brink of death and left him in a nearby trash bin.

Now, Naruto runs quietly through the forest masking his scent with a coat he took from a nearby park. He had been running for thirty minutes now. The villagers had found him quickly and had lunged towards the small boy, Naruto quickly ran as fast as he could into the dark depths of the forest. Here the moss grew almost anywhere you looked and an owl hooted quietly to itself. He began to slow, realizing no one was chasing him anymore. The small blond found a nearby ledge and sank to his knees beneath it trembling. Naruto cried quietly to himself as he lay against the cold stone

"Why... why do they have to do this?! Why only me?", Naruto sobbed. But Naruto knew why, he was a monster to the village. Although he didn't know what he did, he still believed none the less. Why else would the kind villagers of Konoha attack him?

At that moment a hand grabbed him by the shoulder roughly and dragged him backwards. Naruto looked up towards him captor. It was the villagers.

-Time skip to next day-

Naruto limped back to his apartment letting his mind wander as he went. He opened the door slowly knowing what awaited him. His room was a mess to say the least. The windows were shattered and debris lay over the floor consisting of the remnants of his bedframe and dresser. Naruto's eyes scanned the rest of the room, they landed on the wall across from him. The villagers had sprayed threats and warning all across it including: Monster, JUST DIE ALREADY, and GET OUT OF OUR TOWN, DEMON!! These notes covered two walls entirely and some of his cieling. He slowly sat on the small chunk of mattress left and began to clean and bandage the cuts and bruises that now decorated his body.

After he was done he looked back at the messsage on his wall. That was the moment when something clicked in Naruto's brain. His face became serious yet his eyes were empty. "If me leaving is what the village wants I won't be a burden any longer", Naruto said quietly. He began to gather his things -what was left of them- and headed off to the village gate, hiding in the shadows so as not to be spotted by the bloodthirsty villagers.

When he arrived he gazed back at the solemn faces of the hokages one last time before running running down the path before him. Naruto vowed to himself never to return to the village so as not to hurt those he loved.


	2. Spy

  Naruto walked along the road in awe of what was around him. He had never been outside the gate before so the countryside was so large the landscape was almost menacing to him. He hopped over roots here and there almost tripping a few times and finally found a small cavern to rest in for the night.  
  "Night Jiji-sama..."and with that Naruto fell asleep.  
-3rd Hokages POV-  
Lord third sat in his seat, worrying. Today Naruto was meant to visit him ,yet he had not shown his face all morning.  
  "Tenzo", Sarutobi called. A brown haired ANBU teleported into the room and bowed to the hokage. "Take Kakashi and Itachi with you and create a search party. Naruto is missing."  
"Hai.", with that the masked 17 year old teleported away.  
"Naruto. Please be okay."  
-Tenzo/Yamato's POV-  
Yamato appeared before two sparring ANBU. One ,Itachi, was about 12 years old, while the other, Kakashi, was 20. Kakashi (although many years his senior) was just barely higher in level than the small Uchiha. Yamato watched in awe for a moment before remembering why he was there.  
"Senpai. We have been assigned a search and rescue mission by Lord Third." Yamato told his silver-haired friend.  
  "Who?" Kakashi was now standing before Yamato with Itachi at his side.  
  "Uzumaki Naruto. He was last seen by a villager yesterday. You may not want to know how they found him though, it was the Festival yesterday." The festival. These two words "the Festival" told Kakashi all he needed to know. Every year the Fox Hunt was held against all of Lord Hiruzen's laws created to stop the bloody tradition. But each year the villagers still somehow were able to get their hands on the small boy and "avenge" the late 4th Hokage. This year it seems was worse than the last.  
  "Let's go." Kakashi said heading back to the ANBU supply room along with Yamato and Itachi following close behind.


	3. Lost

The three ANBU shot through the forest path with one goal in mind, to save Uzumaki Naruto. The ground here was uneven and twisted at random times -almost making Yamato lose his footing once-. 

"He's close," the ninja hound at the front of the group stated as they passed a large valley covered in battle scars. They had been looking for Naruto for 2 days now with no luck. The small boy seemed to know how to cover his trail well but this time they finally had a reliable lead. As they ran further they found more carnage from the battle that happened there not long before: bloodied kunaii, craters left by paper bombs, and cracks in the earth where shinobi used ground-type jutsus against one-another. But, one thing that none of them could spot were the bodies that caused the crimson landscape.

Pakkun stopped suddenly, sniffing the air and walking around the crater to an empty crevice. "He was here." 

Kakashi and Itachi began to inspect the cave for any clues to the whereabouts of the runaway. The small cave was hardly bigger than a crack with enough room to fit the small jinchuriki but showed no signs of any residency there except a pool of dried blood and markings on the walls where the boy tried to claw away from whomever or whatever was with him. Kakashi sighed. This mission seemed to have gotten more serious than he had hoped for, he had to notify the Hokage. The grey-haired shinobi pulled out a small slip of paper and a brush and quickly finished the letter and whistled to a nearby hawk who flew off note in hand(talon).

"Naruto has been kidnapped. We must hurry, who knows who has him but we first need to find out what happened here." The other two nodded and they headed to the village up the road.


	4. Investigation

-Naruto POV-

    I slowly open my eyes to the dark room that greeted me. A man sat in the far corner speaking to another in front of him. They muttered quietly to each other before noticing my presence.  
The look in the eyes of my attacker made my skin crawl. It was the eyes of a lion spotting its first meal in weeks. The look of hunger. 

The other man, a shorter boy about my age with scars that streaked across his cheeks in a bizarre pattern, noticed this and turned to face his captive. "I'm glad to see you awake." , he said with a reassuring smile. This smile was not to be trusted, the years with the villagers taught me this. Not all kindness is what it seems. I stared blankly at him, I must not let my emotions show. The boy walked across the room, standing just feet away from me. I could smell the vile stench of blood coming from his mouth as he spoke. "I am Mirashi and that is my companion Shizou. But don't worry. We won't kill you." I flinched slightly at this. Which did not go unnoticed by Mirashi's watchful eye. He smilebefore continuing. "You are a valuable asset you see. One that we could not easily replace."His voice suddenly took an intimidating tone. "But that doesn't mean we can't. Remember that before you act out of line. " I don't know for how long but my entire body trembled uncontrollably. 'Jiijii help me!' I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to keep my emotions at bay. But, despite my efforts, a sob escaped me. The sobbing wouldn't stop and only seemed to be getting worse. 'I am scared. Someone please save me! Save me!' I screamed mentally. But I already knew that no one would come. No one would want to save a monster.  
 

The man (Misa? Mirusa?) let out an annoyed sigh as he walked closer now. Stopping just before me. I looked up, tears and snot streaking down my trembling face, curious as to why the man was so close. Then I felt the side of my face begin to crack and finally gave way beneath a lethal kick from Mirashi. My vision went black from pain as I collapsed in on myself,  blood joined the pooling liquid at the side of my face.   
"If you keep whining then I will get rid of you myself. And trust  me, brat, you don't want that to happen." Mirashi sneered at the me as he lifted me by the hair. Roughly dragging the me to my feet. I nearly collapsed again from the weakness in my knees and the constant trembling that racked through my body.   
"Your new name is Nasami. Don't forget that brat or I will make sure you don't forget." The calm yet intimidating tone of Mirashi's voice scared me to no end but I tried not to show it as I nodded quickly to his words. I would do whatever this man said. He would kill me if I didn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-3rd person pov-

  The vacant town before them had an ominous feel to it. Kakashi stepped forward cautiously, signaling the others to stay alert. The ANBUs light foot steps echoed through the emptiness. Not even a breeze dared to go into this town.

    They went from house to house looking for anything, anyone that would lead them to the small blond. But they could find nothing. Like the battlefield earlier, there was no sign of bodies or even signs of life for that matter except for the hollow husks of houses. "Strange."muttered Yamato to himself. Itachi nodded in agreement. Strange was right. 

"Kakashi-sempai, what could have caused this?", Yamato asked quietly.

"I-...I have no idea in all honesty. I've never seen anything like this in all my years as an ANBU..." Kakashi walked about the small room that had been a child's room not long before. "All I know is that this has to do some how with what, or who took Naruto."


	5. Captivity

-3rd person pov-

'How long have I been here?' thought Naruto to himself as he swept the floor for the fifth time that day. 'Why am I here? What do they want from me?' This Naruto had thought to himself many times for the past few days while he had been locked in this dark room.

Every day was always the same, Mirashi would appear with Shizou at his side. And every day Shizou would draw blood from Naruto while Mirashi asked him an endless list of questions. The questions were about anything and nothing, and Naruto did his best to answer them all. But that is easier said then done, due to the fact if Naruto(or Nasami as Mirashi called him) said something he didn't like Naruto would be hit or cut or assigned a long list of chores and jobs to do as a punishment. Naruto never talked back even with the pain that came with each strike. He always pulled himself back into his sitting position, waiting for Mirashi to calm down and continue with the questioning. And so, the days seemed to pass in a steady blur for Naruto. He was always thankful when he was allowed food and water, even if it was bland and not enough quite to keep him completely healthy. 

And today was no different, Naruto awoke after his nightmare filled hour of sleep and began to clean. Everything had to be perfect for his captors or he would face another punishment. He swept and mopped up old blood stains with an tattered towel he found the day prior. When everything was as clean as he could possibly make it, the small jinchuriki sat down on his bed and began to inspect his wounds. His body was decorated in bruises and cuts. Most had closed and started to heal but a few on his hand and feet had reopened from cleaning. Naruto cleaned the wounds as best he could with the small rag. He let out a small whimper as he cleaned out a deep gash in his foot. He then ripped the other long sleeve from his shirt and bandaged his wounds before standing once again. Mirashi would be here soon and he can't be lazy around him.

It wasn't long before the familiar slamming of the door startled Naruto awake from daydreaming.

"NASAMI!", Mirashi called. Naruto ran quickly across his room to the other boy.

"H-hai?" squeaked Naruto. 'What if he saw me daydreaming?! I'm going to get hit again! I don't want to be hurt anymore!' Naruto thought frantically. Tremors shot through the small boys frame, making it difficult for him to keep up with Mirashi's quick pace.

"Today we are trying something new. Something I think you will have lots of fun with!",Mirashi spun around to meet the gaze of the blonde."How does that sound, Nasami?" Naruto now realized he was surrounded, he couldn't run. His body shook harder, but he was able to smile slightly to show his "excitement" to Mirashi's delighted smirk. "Good, good!" Mirashi chirped. "Now, this may sting a little. But you must stay still, okay?"Naruto nodded.

Mirashi shot a look at Shizou before stepping back. Shizou grabbed Naruto's shoulders as Mirashi flashed hand-signs and yelled, "Sunōsutairu: Yuki arashi no genjitsu!"

Then everything went black.


	6. Convicted

-3rd Person-  
  Naruto slowly began to regain consciousness. He kept his eyes shut worrying what Mirashi might do if he realized he was awake. He listened intently but when he didn't hear anything except the sound of his own breathing he began to relax. 'They must have left after that flash.' He thought, relief filling every part of him. Ever so slightly, Naruto began to open his eyes. His body was sore and wet.   
  'Why am I so sticky?' Naruto thought to himself, his clothes heavy and clinging to him. But, Naruto already knew what the pool he was lying in was made of, it's rust-copper scent was very familiar to him. Naruto sat up and looked at the ground around him. The sticky liquid, a large stream of blood about two inches deep. Where did it come from? Naruto examined himself and found no wounds, stranger still, no sign of any type of any previous scarring or scabbing. Naruto's mind spun in confusion, he checked his foot and sure enough the gaping incision was somehow as good as new. 'Wait. My feet don't look like that, nor do my hands... And why am I so pale?' Naruto started to shake as he noticed more and more. 'What is happening?!' He demanded as he studied his arms and hands that were coated in the warm red liquid.  
  

  Bang! He jolted out of his stupor when he heard a door slam open. Not thinking twice, Naruto began to run as fast as he could, following the bloody path before him. The red stream twisted around in a long stone hallway, it was dark and the high-arched ceiling gave off an eerie feel but Naruto ignored this and continued on. The source of the blood will surely lead him to an exit or so Naruto hoped. 'Mirashi probably caught someone trying to escape and punished them.', he convinced himself.  
   

  In the darkness Naruto began to scale a large mound. His feet getting caught in crevices sending him sprawling before he righted himself and carried on. He barely reached the summit when he began noticed the quiet patter of someone approaching, no, two it is two people. He swallowed hard.   
  

  Two men stared him down from the floor below, one slowly circled the hill until he was directly behind him, preventing any form of escape. Suddenly Naruto felt a presence of another behind him, the cold edge of their kunaii at his throat.   
  

  "You have no where to run, Kiken Nasami. Please come with us." The voice behind me ordered cooly. 'Kiken-?Does he mean me?' His question was soon answered with a shove urging him forward. He made his way back down the steep slope beneath him, only now he realized what the mound was made of. Decomposing, mutilated corpses strewn all around him, their limbs entangled with each other. His breath quickened, now coming in quick gasps, and his head spun as he stepped on the soft tissue below him. He was barely able to stand when he got the the base of the pile.   
 

   The three men before him were very strange. They wore animal masks, similar to the one's he saw at Konoha's local markets. And as the gray-haired one, the tallest of the three, made his way toward him he noticed something very strange. Something more terrifying to him than the bodies or the masked men. In the man's arms he saw a young child, the child was small and badly hurt, the wound on his foot wrapped sloppily in a dirty rag.  
                      'T-that kid..'Naruto's knees buckled,'Is me.'


	7. Murderer

×4 hours prior to Chapter 6× -Kakashi pov- 'Why can't we find anything?!', I though angrily. We have searched so long and yet we have come up with nothing. "Senpai, why don't we try the forests? Someone may have escaped when the attack occured."Tenzo suggested half-heartedly. "Good idea. Both of you, go comb the forests in a 10 mile radius from this village. Itachi, you go north. Tenzo, you go south." I ordered. Both of them quickly departed on their long treks into the wilderness. -one hour later- Me and Pakkun have had difficulty picking up a trail on Naruto's scent. After our 3rd rotation about the town Tenzo joined us. And another hour and a half had passed when we spotted the silhouette of our small companion who seemed to be half-carrying a limping old woman. Tenzo, Pakkun and I hurried over, helping Itachi to place the woman into a sitting position. "Th-thank you. You boys are so kind."The elder wheezed. Going from the blood flow coming from deep gashes in her leg and chest as well as her age, she didn't have long to live. Tenzo must have realized this because he began to question her on what had happened almost immediately. The woman told us her story: "It was a beautiful morning, everyone was walking about and enjoying each other's company. I walked down the main road as I did every morning to sell some of my herbs when I heard someone scream. Then another, and another. The number screams kept growing. I grabbed my healing herbs and hurried forward, hoping to save at least on person from the pain that they seemed to be in. But when I got to the main square I noticed a small boy. He must have been only 6 or seven years old and he was standing in the middle of the square. Around him were the people whom I had heard screaming. And they.. They were in quite a dreadful state, there was nothing I could do for them. And yet the child didn't seem at all bothered by this. He seemed happy, excited even." "Can you describe him for us, the boy?" I asked, intrigued. "Well... He had white hair and red-brown eyes and was very pale, but tall for his age. Oh! He was also carrying a large knife and was covered in blood, his white shirt and brown shorts were covered in it. And there was something else.. He had 3 scars, long cuts it looked like, that ran across his face. Two of them crossed at his mouth.." "Thank you, ma'am. Now, what happened after that?" "Well after that the boy whistled a tune and another man appeared. A rogue ninja, Hidden Rain, I believe.. And I saw how they were speaking and how they looked at us and I knew that I had to leave as soon as possible. I used to be a ninja myself you see.. Me and a few others began to escape to the woods but many were killed or died of blood loss or shock. I was lucky to escape one of the attacks the with only these wounds. After two days I returned to the village and everyone was gone. Even our ninja and the bodies, everyone was gone. So I decided to try to find help and wandered in the forest to do so, but I was very slow due to my wounds and after a sharp pain I nearly fell down a cliffside when this young gentle men found me."She huffed and readjusted herself before looking up at us expectantly. "That information is invaluable to us, thank you madame. If there is nothing else you wish to share with us we will try to contact someone to heal yo-" Tenzo was interrupted by a sad chuckle. He looked at the old woman curiously. "Don't play around, son. We both know I am not going to live after I've lost this much blood."She motioned toward the growing red stain on the front of her blouse."There is one more thing." She shuffled through her pocket and then held out a small strip of brown cloth."I found this after one of the attacks. One of my companions, bless his soul, had almost hit the child with a strong justu but the he was too slow and only the boy's shorts took the damage. I hope this can help."She handed the cloth to me and coughed loudly, adding to the already growing redness. "This will help us greatly. It will lead us directly to him." I thanked her once again. The old woman smiled broadly. "I'm glad." She whispered. She gave one last small smile before she too passed on. ×30 minutes prior to Chapter 6× -and much walking later- We have arrived a small cave. I motion silently to the other two as we silently make our way into the darkness before us. After about a mile the pathway opens into a neatly tiled hallway. The hallway itself is not very long but on the right side the are 5 doors. After scouring the first two, which are spotless, we notice a door bolted from the outside. 'This is it.' I open the door to find a small dark room with a small ratty bed and a mop, and in the middle of the floor, a small blonde lays motionless. This must be Uzumaki Naruto. I quietly walk across the room and squat down next to Naruto. His small body curled into a ball, his tattered clothing hanging off of him. I turn him over, he is badly injured but he's breathing and will be okay. Relieved, I pull him into my arms and help the others scout out the last two doors. The next door is another empty room but the last one, an old wooden thing, has a red puddle slowly seeping out from the crack below it. We soon come to discover that it's locked and Tenzo volunteers to knock it down. After setting his shoulders Tenzo runs forward and slams into the door. The lock breaks and the door flings open ,the thunderous noise of the door ricocheting of the wall echoing about the darkness before us. 'So much for stealth.' We hear someone run and I signal for Itachi to go ahead of us. Tenzo and I follow, not attempting to cover the sound of our steps as we walk alongside a long river of blood that deepens as we get close in on its source. We walk silently before I glance over at Tenzo,"I'd say this is about a village-worths blood, what do you think?" The brown-haired ninja nodded grimly back. When the "water-level" reached 4 inches we came into sight the source. "And here's the village..."I mumbled to myself. That's when I noticed the kid standing atop the mountain of bodies, a small white-haired child with scars along his face and blood staining a large portion of his body. We both stared at him for a moment before I sent Tenzo off to the opposite side of the tower. I didn't want the murderer of an entire town to slip away right as we finally got so close to capturing him. I slowly began closing the gap between me and the corpses when Itachi appeared behind the kid. 'Always a step ahead of us.' I sighed to myself. Itachi brought the child down. The child, it seemed now was having a difficult time standing. As I neared the huddle something clicked. I had seen this boy before, he is an S-class in the bingo book, Kiken Nasami. He had killed, robbed and attacked hundreds of others in the past, including his parents and baby sister. This child was truly a monster. I joined the semi-circle around Nasami when the boy's eyes widened. Nasami shook badly. Then, the monster, the murderer or hundreds if not thousands, fainted.


	8. Replaced

-Kakashi pov-  
    Baffled, I stared at the crumpled heap at my feet. 'Is this a trick? Is he going to attempt to attack us when we reach for him?' I continued to watch him as Itachi lifted the boy into his arms. And Nasami remained unconscious. 'I guess it wasn't an act.' I readjust Naruto in my arms and begin to leave the way we came. There is nothing left in here except the two in our arms.  
  "It's time for us to return to Konoha. Tenzo, send word back to the Hokage." I say as the foliage outside comes into view.  
  "Hai."

-a day and a half later-  
-Naruto pov-  
    
  "...Where.. am.. I?", I mumble to myself as I try to roll over. Something stops me, bindings? I open my eyes to see that I am sitting on a small chair, my arms, legs and torso are all strapped down tightly.  
   "Nasami is it?"A voice to my left questions. I turn my head to see a man with a Hidden Leaf headband tied around his head, the cloth is a bandana of sorts and covers the top of his head entirely.  
   "I- I- don't know."I stutter. 'Is this a test? If I say my name is Naruto, will I be punished again?' Sweat begins to pool on my back.  
   "You don't know?" The man laughed roughly,"You are going to be a difficult one I can tell." He gaze meets mine and I can't help but look away, the man terrifies me with just his stare." _M_ y name is Ibiki, the top interrogator in Konoha. That I am sure of. Now why don't you try it?"  
  "M-my n-name i-is..."I pause for a moment watching Ibiki, 'Is this a trap?'. "-is Na-", but before  I can finish a sharp pain fills my mouth and I am choking on my own blood.  
  "Medic! Get in here!" My vision is going blurry. I can't breathe.  
Someone grabs me and there is a green light blinding me. After a moment the blood flow stops and I can breathe again.  
  "He's stable!"Someone calls out and the light is gone. I cough and sputter out the last of the blood in my mouth.  
   "A seal, how clever. Did you do that to yourself?"Ibiki asked as he returned to our table. He stood behind a chair directly in front of me and studied my face carefully. I shook my head quickly.   
  "Wh.. what is a seyol?" I asked carefully, worried about what will set off the pain again.  
   "Seal."Ibiki corrected."Well a seal is used for many things, it's a symbol placed on your body or an item that can absorb, prevent, boost or even cause justsus with certain triggers. _Yo_ u have a seal in your mouth, one that prevents you from speaking a word having to do with this situation specifically or yourself from what I am guessing. But of course you already knew that didn't you?"  
   Suddenly distracted I ask him warily,"What about-?"  
  "What about what?", Ibiki questioned.  
    I lower my voice to a whisper,"What about the other two?"  
    "Who? Your companions?"  
    "The tall one with scratched headband and the other one. He looked my age? I haven't seen them in a while and.. and.. I'm scared." I admit pathetically. For a very brief moment a flash of surprise or shock crossed his face before he regained his usual demeanor.  
     "Scared?"He echoed curiously. He waved two fingers in the air and another ninja appeared. The new ninja stepped forward handing a small hand to Ibiki. Ibiki walked over guiding a shaky blond boy with him who was bandaged from head to toe. "You are scared of Naruto?" He laughed, the small boy began to laugh along as well his little bell-like  giggles bouncing of the walls. Although it was obvious he had no idea what was funny.  
"He's not N-", my mouth began to burn, "I am-"I sputtered, coughing out blood all over myself. The boy, the other Naruto, started to get frightened, his eyes swimming in tears. He hid behind Ibiki, still clinging to the man's hands.  
  "What is he not?"  
   "-Me!" I coughed out, barely keeping myself from choking. My eyes began to get misty as well, tears filling every part of my eye before finally spilling over. The look Ibiki gave me told me that he didn't believe me for a second. He stood up and returned the other Naruto, who now let out garbeled sobs, to the outer room.  
  "Now",he began."Let's start again and this time with no strange answers or lies. And, if you refuse, I can get the truth out of you in other ways."He motioneded to a ninja who brought in a cart full of sharp and dangerous things. Pleased with my obvious terror he sat down across from me.  
  "What is your name?" If I say my real name he will think I am lying and will-.. I shuddered. If I want to survive this I will have to answer correctly. Even if that means lying.   
   "N-Nasami?" I questioned hopefully. The dangerous man in front of me smirked at me and every part of my body told me that I stood on Death's door just sitting across from him.  
   "Now that wasn't so hard was it?" The next two days passed by in a long, painful blur. And just as Mirashi did, he came in an questioned me, if he didn't like my answer he would use his "honesty tools" as he called them. And every now and then I would see another face at the doorway as Ibiki left for the day, a masked face with only an blood-red eye showing beneath his headband.  
"Hold still." A voice ordered. I sat as still as possible as two ninja came in. One began to unstrap me as the other watched me closely, looking for any attempt as escape.  
  "What's going on?" I asked the ninja in front of me.  
  "We are moving you to a holding cell until your sentence is decided." I have no idea what that means but I nod anyway. The woman behind me lifts me up  and out of the chair and sets me next to it as the man in front of me places cuffs around my wrists. The shackles have strange markings in them. "These cuffs have seals on them that make it impossible for you to form any sort of chakra or sign any jutsu."The ninja explained when he noticed my interest in the scratches. 'More seals?' I thought to myself as he finished cuffing my feet as well.  
  We walk to a door I never noticed before on the wall parallel to the door Ibiki came in through. The hallway on the other side was bright and wide and the carpet felt nice on my raw feet. As we went lower and lower down the winding hallway we finally came to a stop at the exit. Each ninja grabbed one of my arms and lead me away from the building and towards a small gray shack in the corner. As I trudged forward I heard a laugh and a playful yell, I turned my head to see a group of kids my age playing under a tree across from where we stood. As I watched them, a boy with a dog chased after another who was clever enough to climb a tree, out of the other boys reach. A few others sat in a bundle talking or drew in the dirt. That is when I realized there was only one girl in the pack drawing or talking; the rest were all gathered at the base of the tree the smart kid with the ponytail scoured. I stopped and stared at the tree, quickly spotting a ponytail ,and a few branches up I could make out another boy crouched precariously on a thin limb, his dark blue hair ruffling slightly in the wind. I could recognize that duck-butt anywhere. I couldn't help it, as the two ninjas shoved me forward I glanced back and shouted at the tree.  
  "SASUKE-BAAAAKA!"I then stuck my bloodied tongue out at the little jerk in the trees and continued to walk with the ninjas. When we walked in the entrance I glanced back over just in time to see Sasuke stare at me curiously from the tree, saying something I couldnt quite make out.   
  I now sat in my small cave of a cell, my arms bound to my chest in a straitjacket. The bed below me is stiff and I struggle to get comfortable enough to sleep. But eventually I do it seems because I awaken to the sound of the cell door slowly opening and a small blonde entering.  
  "Hello, _Nasami_." The other Naruto smirked. "How are you?" I glared at him, unable to reply due to the cloth around my mouth. I can barely make out a small grunt as he moves towards me. Chills run up my spine with each footfall. He crouched down in front of me, lifting up my face to meet his in his small hands, he whispers so only I can hear.     
  "If you do anything as stupid as that stunt you pulled outside again," He dug his fingers into my wounded shoulder,"-or blow my cover in _any_ way. I will personally kill everyone you care for. Your teacher, you Hokage, even the brats outside, I will kill them all without a second thought. _So,_ if you wish for them to live-" I let out a whimper as his nails drew blood. "-you will be silent. You will not say a word no matter what they do to you or who is talking to you." He gave me one last evil smile before wiping the blood off his hand and closing the door behind him."I will be watching."  
  Thats when it finally clicked. It all makes sense now. Everything from being kidnapped to the seemingly random questions. All of it was part of their plan. They were learning everything they could about me so when he replaced me no one would suspect a thing. My body suddenly grew very cold.   
            I am no longer Uzumaki Naruto, Mirashi is.


	9. Illusions

-3rd Person pov-  
The air was damp and heavy in the dark, stony underbelly of the Konoha holding cells. There was only one prisoner left now, and many claimed he was by far the foulest in the village's history. "Kiken Nasami.." They whispered his name, unaware the monster they spoke of stood mere feet away. And the one they feared so terribly was just a very unlucky young boy with no blood yet spilled on his hands.  
"H...Hello.." Mirashi stammered shyly to another child of his disguise's age. The boy glared at him and stomped off, Mirashi was confused by his reaction until he saw the symbol on his back, the red and white fan of the Uchiha. 'What was this kid's name again?' "Sas-..-suke?"   
"What do _you_ want, baka?!" Sasuke huffed impatiently, turning back around to glower at his rival. He had nothing to do that day but the idea of spending any amount of his free time with Naruto was definitely not on the list of possibilities.  
"I was wondering if you wanted to train toge-"  
"No. Why would I _ever_ do that? You're annoying, small, and stupid. And my parents don't want me talking to you so go away, Naruto-baka!" Sasuke spat at Mirashi. Mirashi was at a loss as he watched the blue-haired boy wander aimlessly away. 'Why'd I have to replace a freak? I'm going to kill Shizou for this, now how am I going to make this work?!' He grumbled mentally. He had to find a way in.  
He was walking along some of the towns streets when a voice called out to him from a run down restaurant called Ichiraku. Mirashi stared at it suspiciously before passing through the cloth storefront. One of the ninjas who had "saved" him was there, drinking the final remains of a bowl before lifting his mask back up. The whole ordeal was so smoothly done he didn't even get to glance at the gray-haired shinobi's face before it was covered again.   
"You are too thin, kid. Have a bowl on me, I heard you were a fan." 'Damn, forgot about that.' Despite his hatred of the slimy noodles he forced the corners of his mouth up into a wide grin.   
"THAAAAAANK YOU!" He sang out as he wrapped his arms about Kakashi's waist.   
"Sit- Sit-!" He gently pushed the blonde away, embarrassed. Mirashi swung his legs about beneath him as he waited, after a moment or two an older man came out proudly displaying the large bowl of pork ramen in his arms before dropping it noisily before him.  
"Enjoy, Naruto!" He sighed inwardly, 'Why did the idiot have to like _rame_ n.' He slowly ate the food before him before finally giving up halfway through.  
"I'm stuffed!" He announced contentedly, patting his stomach. The ramen maker looked at him questioningly.  
" Are you sure? Usually you finish two or three by now without even the slightest notion of stopping but today you only ate half a bowl..." He inquired in a worrying tone. " Are you sick?" Mirashi laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head.  
" Ah-! You got me! My belly does feel gross." He smiled as he tried to maintain the other boy's childish speech patterns. He grimaced, holding his torso as he jumped off the chair. "Thank you for the food. I'm gonna go home now." He waved the confused duo goodbye and scampered off. 'That was close. Too close.' He doubted his newest acquaintances would treat him quite as well if they realized what was going on. He had to be more careful.  
-Naruto's pov-  
For the first time since Mirashi's appearance, Naruto had a visitor. He lifted his head off the dusty ground and peered through the bars. There, as arrogant as ever, was Sasuke. Although today Naruto sensed that the other boys smugness was masking his fear for his small pale hands seemed to tremble even as he clenched them into tight balls. "...Hello."   
Naruto couldn't speak at the moment but he did his best to reply, nodding his head once in greeting as he tried to fling himself into a sitting position upon the floor. "Why are you in here?" The usual nonchalance of his voice tainted with childish curiosity. "Did you-..." He looked around him and whispered with wide eyes, "Did you kill somebody?" The harsh word was a foreign object upon his tongue as he spoke it, Naruto wondered if he had ever said it before.   
Now that he was sitting comfortably he shook his head roughly in response. He would never kill someone, let alone hurt them. Sasuke seemed to believe him to Naruto's great joy, until he remembered Mirashi's threat which quickly sobered him.  
"Then what did you do?" He hesitated a moment before shaking his head again. The older boy's widened in shock. " B-But you have to have done something! They can't just throw you in here, that won't be fair!" He cried indignantly, Naruto shrugged and carefully stood and walked over to his bed.  
It was always a hassle trying to get atop the bunk, it was too tall for him so he had to clamber up the side to get in which -without arms at the ready- was very difficult. He was trying to do his acrobatics to get inside when he fell backwards, landing painfully on his back. Sasuke's muffled laughter floated over as he sat up once more. Naruto looked at him and realized how much he missed talking to other people. Even though most of the village despised or feared him he still found joy in the casual banter with strangers from out of town or kids whose parents hadn't noticed him yet. Some days he would just sit on a bench and listen to the babble and raucous barrage of noise around him and pretend he was apart of it. It wasn't much but somehow it helped him feel less lonely.  
And right now, after all he had been through. He needed these small comforts.  
"Well, my brother is waiting for me, so I gotta go. Can I talk to you again?" His large, dark eyes pleaded with Naruto's dull red and brown ones. He knew he shouldn't but he liked talking to Sasuke -if you could call it talking- so he nodded. Sasuke beamed excitedly before running off to meet with his sibling, the light smacking of his footsteps echoing along the prison.  
'What would Mirashi do if he heard about Sasuke-..?' Naruto shivered at the thought, curling in on himself.   
His pulse began to race as memories came flooding in. He gasped for air beneath the cloth around it as he tried to think of something else, anything else. His attempts only managed to allow the memories to get a better hold on his mind as the panic overtook him. Thoughts of the villagers, of Mirashi, of Shizou all washed over him. Memories mixed with worries created images of all the people he loved being hurt as he had, 'What's happening to me?! It hurts! My chest huuurts!' He cried out in his thoughts desperately as he pressed his arms further into his sides hoping it would help. 'Someone-! Please... Make it go away..!' Tears stung in his eyes and streaked down his cheeks as he lay alone in the cavernous holding cell.


End file.
